01215nas a2200205 4500008004100000245004600041210004200087300001100129490000700140520067800147653001600825653001100841653001100852653001800863100002400881700002000905700001600925700002000941856004800961 2011 eng d00aThe Provenance and Use of Etowah Palettes0 aProvenance and Use of Etowah Palettes a81-1060 v763 a
Based on geological and stylistic evidence, we argue that stone palettes found at Etowah were made locally from nearby raw materials. We also show that they were wrapped in textiles and kept in bundles, i.e., that they were objects used in ritual. Etowah palettes were used as portable altars, perhaps in ceremonies that involved anointing other objects with colorful (and spiritually powerful) substances. The realization that palettes were bundled ritual gear should cause us to rethink common assumptions that such objects moved from site to site by means of "trade," or that they functioned as "prestige goods" in the sense of Frankenstein and Rowlands (1978).
10aArchaeology10aEtowah10aritual10aStone tablets1 aSteponaitis, V., P.1 aSwanson, S., E.1 aWheeler, G.1 aDrooker, P., B. uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.76.1.81